


Taking the Plunge

by Arithanas



Category: Les Trois Mousquetaires | The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
Genre: First Time, M/M, Public Nudity, Skinny Dipping, Swimming, lubeless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-17
Updated: 2016-02-17
Packaged: 2018-05-27 03:15:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6267343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arithanas/pseuds/Arithanas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because soldiers need a wide-ranging training, if they are to save their lives, Raoul taught his friend how to swim… well, at the very least, he tried.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking the Plunge

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday, [Mordioux](http://mordioux.tumblr.com/)! Oh... It isn't your birthday? Well I'm sure you celebrate your birthday in any of the other 365 days of this year.

Armand de Guiche grumbled and groaned and cursed Raoul de Bragelonne’s ancestors to the ninth generation. His head was killing him and he required not this early morning ride, but Raoul persisted with his childlike enthusiasm that always was so hard to resist. Of course, the culprit of his headache was the wine he gulped last night and not his friend, but it was easier to blame Raoul and his God forsaken urge to perform early morning activities.

Raoul was leading the way to his new favorite spot. Apparently he had found a place where water was peaceful and tepid and wanted to share it with his friend. That train of thought mystified Armand to no end, but Raoul was impenetrable to any reasoning.

“Repeat to me, Raoul,” de Guiche asked and ducked to avoid an unpleasant encounter with low branches, “why are riding to this secluded spot of yours?”

“Because you wanted to improve your swimming skills and this is the perfect place.”

“First of all, my swimming skills are famous for their absence!”

“It reminds me of the Loire. I learned how to swim in a place similar to this,” Raoul interrupted his friend and stopped his horse with a brief pull of the reins.

Armand raised his head to tease Raoul merciless on that tidbit of nostalgic drivel and the words failed to fall from his mouth. The place was breathtaking, tall trees framed the small bend in the wide river; a small island with reeds and tall grass protected the other side. Raoul was right; it was the perfect place to get naked and learn to swim.

“If you drown me here, Bragelonne, where would my body end?” de Guiche asked while Raoul went afoot.

The place seemed so isolated.

“I didn’t care for that detail,” Raoul confessed and tossed the reins to a branch before offering his hand to Armand. “I’m not planning to let you die in the water.”

Raoul de Bragelonne’s charming naiveté had a way to reassure Armand, because he knew the amount of cold blood and courage behind it. With a sigh, de Guiche took the hand and he dismounted.

“I'm putting my life in your hands, Raoul,” de Guiche warned with mock gravity, “you better know what you're doing.”

“You can confide it to me, _M. le comte_ ,” Raoul replied with a serious smile and a small bow.

Armand was never sure if Raoul was jesting, but he followed Raoul to the grassy patch by the water and watched how Raoul, straightforwardly, sat on the grass, kicked his booths and began to undress. Armand had to follow suite, since it was not advisable to swim with all the encumbrance of his soldier garment.

There was no doubt of Raoul’s proficiency in this kind of task, because his clothes were carefully folded with some brisk movements as soon as he peeled them from his body. Armand, chiding himself because he couldn’t tear his eyes from Raoul’s slender shoulders, was a little slower. From behind, Raoul may perhaps be mistaken for a maiden. The thought was as unsettling as pleasant.

“I’ll see you in the water,” Raoul said and tossed his hose over the heap of clothes.

Armand found no words to reply, his eyes were engaged on Raoul’s naked skin. It was a beautiful sight; the creamy paleness sported a splash of freckles over the round buttocks, but those long thighs were taking long strides. Whoever taught Raoul to run has taken pains to guarantee this boy will raise his knees high every time, like the images on those Greek urns. From behind, while dashing toward the water, Raoul’s waist seemed more willowy than usual.

“You don’t know you are poetry made flesh, Raoul.” Armand said to himself, his arms resting on his knees. There was no need to miss the spectacle with undue rush.

Raoul jumped, gathering the whole momentum of his race in a graceful dive. Armand gasped in awe as Raoul, with his back straight, his legs together and his taut arms clasped over his head, speared the water like a peregrine falcon. For a moment, Armand got lost in the poetry of the moment, but Raoul’s puerile glee, expressed with an exclamation that started with a laugh and ended with a splash reduced the object of his aesthetic pleasure to his most human reality.

“Mother of Christ child!” Raoul shouted as he pushed his head out of the water. Long tread framed his boyish features and floated at his shoulders. “Water is pleasantly warm! Hurry up!”

“I don’t believe you, Bragelonne!” Armand replied, his fine batiste shirt was out of his back at last.

“Your loss!” Raoul drew his arm to the back of his head before starting a powerful stroke that drove him away from the shore. His body described a lazy turn that exposed his side, his supple buttocks, and his long legs.

“Raoul!” de Guiche called, approaching to the water with uneasy steps. “Don’t you dare to leave me here!”

“Come to the water then,” Raoul invited again and

Raoul smiled and extended his arms, the fuzz in his chest was more noticeable now that he was naked and wet. Of course, temptation was stronger than his wisdom, and Armand took the plunge.

In hindsight, that blind thrust in Bragelonne’s wisdom proved to be ill-advised. Armand’s belly skin burned and his limbs shivered as they were being assaulted by multiple pins of cold. Armand opened his mouth and water rushed inside his mouth drowning out his cry for help. His chest tightened. His arms refused to move.  

The horrifying realization he was dying begun to set into his brain when a couple of warm arms pulled him effortless to the surface and Armand was able to take a gasping breath while Raoul hold him against his chest. As the breath revived his panicked brain, his arms tried to hold Raoul and to push him at the same time. Bragelonne’s laugh sobered his panicked mind.

“Hold me now and calm your mind,” Raoul offered, still laughing at his childlike prank, but Armand’s actions brought regret almost immediately, “You better hold another part of my body, something with a better grip, mayhap?”

“I find I can grip this part very well,” Armand said with a sly smile; his body was covered by the water and his long hair floated in a meaningless way.

“Take off your hands, Guiche!”

Raoul’s voice sounded serious and de Guiche noticed he got caught between behaving kindly and being left to die in the water. He raised his hands over the water, but was cautious enough to press Raoul’s sides with his elbows.

“Lesson can begin now,” Bragelonne said with the same stern voice before starting to manhandle de Guiche again with that same ease he pulled his friend from the water. “You know now what fear feels like, let me know if you feel the same.”

“That’s certainly not a benevolent way to start a lesson, _monsieur le pédagogue_.”

“All kids must know how to be afraid of water before learning to swim.” Raoul explained, turning him around and using his back as support for his friend’s back.

“I could have told you I was already afraid before you jested so cruelly on me...”

“Now, now, Armand, just close your eyes and let me erase all your fears.”

Armand comply with his friend’s order, letting the cold water run over his hot skin. Raoul’s hands on the small of his back were reassuring.

“Feel the current, Guiche…” Raoul coached and his hand caressed Armand’s back sending the most amazing shiver to the back of his legs as he raised them toward the surface. “There is nothing to be afraid of.”

“You are not helping,” Armand said with concerned voice. The need to kick and run was brewing inside his brain.

“I don’t need to help anything,” Raoul’s hand moved to his shoulders. “Water does almost all the work, just let it work its magic.”

Armand hated to agree with Raoul but floating in the current was very soothing. Raoul’s arms on his chest made him feel lightheaded almost as much as his body felt weightless in the water.

“The first thing to learn,” Raoul instructed with gentle voice, “is learn how to kick.”

“The way one kicks on the ground?”

“Lighter. Keep your legs straight and kick.”

The instruction was clear but Armand found difficult to comply. Water around his legs had a very noticeable weight, but Raoul used his legs to help him broke the water resistance in the most adequate way and soon, Armand was moving them aimlessly in the middle of the river.

“Turn around,” Raoul instructed, helping him with a soft push on his shoulders. “Don’t look around.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to spare you the fright.”

Wise words wasted on de Guiche. A quick look around let him notice how far they were from the water's edge and the panic began to creep into his mind again. His eyes darted to the grassy patch and to Raoul and before he could lose his mind, Bragelonne applied a sobering remedy: his lips on Armand’s lips, his arms around Armand’s, and his hands on his dark wet hair.

Armand de Guiche had the certainty that there was nothing to fear in the whole, wide world.

“Armand,” Raoul called out in soft, reassuring tones.

“Raoul?”

“Kick.”

The command was obeyed and the impulse made them move against the current. Raoul’s floating body caressed Armand’s moving one. Raoul’s skin was warm in the cold water and his flesh was hard and taut, his face was just above the water line.

“You are doing well…”

The soft encouraging words made Armand smile and apply himself to the task with renewed purpose. Raoul, sensing the change of disposition started to kick and backstroke, letting his body caress his friend as he detached from the close group they had formed in the water.

“Raoul!”

“Follow me,” Raoul encouraged and move faster, “You can catch me.”

De Guiche felt the last caress as Raoul, taking advantage of his superior skill press forward a couple of body distance before stopping and opening his arms widely.

“I’m here, Armand,” Raoul said, “come to me.”

Armand felt so tired and his resolution wavered.

“Please, Raoul!”

“Don’t give up now!”

“I cannot.”

“I’m sure you can!” Raoul moved a bit further. “I’ll kiss you if you can catch me!”

Armand kicked the water with the last of his force, trying to reach Raoul’s body but his friend kept moving further and further from the water line in the general direction of the island. With the strength only desperation can provide, Guiche extended his arms and seized Raoul’s almost next to the shore and fastened his body to Raoul’s.

“You are mean, Raoul.”

“But you followed me just right,” Raoul replied with warm and mockingly at the same time.

Raoul’s arms wrapped him around the waist and his lips locked on Armand’s gasping ones.

“Please…” The words tumbled from Armand’s lips. The contact with Raoul’s wet skin made him dizzy.

“You are tired, I suppose,” Raoul said with a sigh and dragged his tired companion to rest on the shore covered in new grass.

Raoul let Armand rest on the grass and laid his weight by his side, heaving a sigh at the blessed warm on his skin. Armand propped his weight on his elbow and watched Raoul once again, enjoying the way the sun highlighted the splash of freckles over the bridge of his nose.

“I want you with unbound passion, Raoul de Bragelonne,” Armand said finally and he meant every word.

Raoul’s eyes flew open and Armand knew he only had one chance before the pedagogue stated to enforce the rules again. Without stopping to think he laid his weight over Raoul and kissed him again as if he wanted to drown Raoul’s objections as water drowned his own cry for help. Raoul replied to the caress and his hands darted to Guiche’s waist without a word.

Armand let his hand crept between their bodies and hold Raoul’s flesh, enjoying the way it pulsed against his palm. Raoul’s head goes down to his neck, kissing the jawline, nibbling the taut cords of Armand’s muscles; his fingers touched gingerly the furrow between Armand’s buttocks. The unskilled caress aroused Armand like no other touch.

“Please…” Armand repeated his plea, not quite sure was he was asking for.

Raoul rolled in the soft grass, crushing the tender herbs and filling the air with the aroma of freshly spilled salvia. Armand would never hear that scent without being aroused again, he was sure.

The weight of Raoul against his chest enhanced the feeling and Armand was ready to give himself as an offering to this burning desire. Raoul put Armand’s right leg over his left shoulder and poised his hard flesh against Armand’s entrance. Guiche gave his consent, fully aware he was not properly ready, but lust was a powerful spur. His teeth were ready to bit his own lips if that’s was the price to pay.

Raoul moaned and pushed his weight, breaching the small entrance. Armand gasped, completely surprised by Raoul’s girth.

“Slow, Bragelonne!”

Bragelonne complied and raised his head, his eyes were surprised, his mouth still formed a perfect round moan and Armand raised to kiss those lips, his hand took hold of Raoul’s hair. Long, deliciously moments they hold the posture. Raoul tried to push again after a bit, but Armand forced him to stay put while his aching pass struggled to accommodate the very welcomed invader.

“Please,” Raoul implored, moving his hands to hold Armand’s waist and arched his back. His bottom lip quivered and a soundless moan escaped his throat.

Armand moaned too, loudly, and his hand gripped a lock in Raoul’s nape, but there was no way to hamper Raoul’s efforts and at that time Armand was not really sure he wanted Raoul to stop.

“Be careful,” Armand commanded with shaky voice and forced himself to let the assault begin.

Raoul bent his head and retired from that confined space before further his advance. Armand didn’t complain because the movement eased his pain and brought a fresh rush of lust. Armand felt how the springy bunch of herbs below his back dampened Raoul’s drive and the smell of crushed plants filled his nostrils again. Raoul raised his head and smiled, lost to the new sensation and his own rush of pleasure.

Armand used his free feet as an anchor and meet Raoul next charge, shivering and feeling how his toes curled at the new intrusion. Raoul moaned in reply and held Armand close as if he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t lose his warm source of pleasure. Armand pulled Raoul’s hair and bent his back, feeling how his lust was about to spill over the brim.

The world returned slowly. The smell of crushed herbs, the warmth of the sun and the welcoming, throbbing flesh of a friend turned into a lover.

“A wife would never give me this pleasure…”  de Guiche said almost to himself.

“A wife?”

The hurt in Raoul’s voice made Armand return to his senses without delay, he never meant Raoul to hear that part of his mind.

“Raoul, let me explain…” Armand said, the justification still forming on his pleasure-addled brain.

“There is nothing to explain,” Raoul interrupted him as he knelt between Armand’s legs. “That’s only natural.” Raoul got up and turned around, “I need to clean myself.”

De Guiche watched as Raoul walked to the water and let it lick his sides. The defeated, slow fashion in which Raoul plunged into the river had nothing in common with the joyful dive that started the lesson. The guilt racked de Guiche and he got on his feet, ready to dive and swim ―if that was what it took― to follow his friend and explain him the situation.

“Raoul!” Armand called, swimming to his side with the clumsy movements of a puppy in a pond.

Raoul heard the splash behind him and he stalled in the water, letting the cold water caress and cleans the parts where Armand’s hands had been before. Its liquid and changeable nature served to cool his head, although his heart kept pounding his ribs with the same rhythmical precision of a time wheel. Betrayal left a scar over the caresses they shared, but he couldn’t leave de Guiche to find his way to the other shore.

“I’m here, Guiche,” Raoul said and extended his hand. “I won’t abandon you.”

“You have already abandoned me, Raoul,” Armand said and profited from that extended hand to approach his friend and cling from his wet body. “I regret every word.”

“You must not regret truth,” Raoul refused to be cajoled and tried to swim to the other shore with the added weight of de Guiche hanging from his frame. “Truth is a meager commodity in this world.”

“But, I don’t even know who my wife will be.”

“It is irrelevant,” Raoul argued and attempted a backstroke, “since you are marrying her, whoever she happens to be.”

“Since you value truth in such high regard, I must tell you that I don’t want any imposed wife and that I love you.”

Raoul stopped his strokes and turned his face to watch Armand.

“Forget those fantasies! You will have a wife, and it is your duty to love her.”

“Oftentimes I forget that you are insufferably parochial, Bragelonne!”

“And you were here to learn how to swim, if I recall correctly!”

De Guiche averted his eyes and held harder to Raoul’s body. “I won’t let you go.”

Raoul let out an exasperated sigh. “You are heavy. I need you to swim.”

Armand didn’t reply but he kicked to help Raoul’s endeavors. Silence was a blessing and the cold water helped Raoul to calm his incensed heart. Louise’s amiable face appeared like a fault-finding ghost in his mind. Realizing he had surrender to deceitful ways, made Raoul ashamed of himself and of what he had done over a nest of new grass.

“Guiche…”

“I’m not going to let you go.”

“I know, but I have a grace to ask from you.”

“I will do as I can, within the measure of my capacities.”

“Once we return to the shore, don’t say another word about this issue.” Raoul stopped his advance. “I need to think.”

“Then, let me kiss you before we reach land,” Armand said with a smile. “My silence is well worth it.”

Raoul turned around in the water and let de Guiche kiss him another time. After what they had done, one more kiss would not be of any consequence.

 

 


End file.
